Day 2: Washington Pass, Cedar Creek Falls, Boulder Creek Falls

North Cascades Travelog #11
Winthrop, WA - Sun, 3 Sep 2023, 9pm.

We're wrapping up Day 2 of our Labor Day weekend North Cascades trip. As with yesterday's wrap-up blog I'm posting this ahead of blogs from earlier today. Those will take longer to post as I need to touch up the pictures.

So, what did we do today? First, for a "North Cascades Travelog" today we were actually in North Cascades National Park. But only a bit, because it's on fire. We drove up there anyway in case the fires are out and some of the trails are open. The road was open— though with one-way traffic near the summit. The trails were still closed. We drove up to the Washington Pass summit, took some pictures, and came back down the mountain.

On the way back toward Winthrop we visited to Cedar Creek Falls. It's a great hike that was already on our list anyway— just something we thought we'd do after hiking some of the trails that are now closed due to fire. The hike took more out of us than we expected but we pressed on to make the most of the day.

In the afternoon we hiked at Boulder Creek Falls. It's about 7 miles north of Winthrop. It's neither as big as Cedar Creek Falls nor as well marked. In fact it's not even marked at all. We parked at an unsigned turnout on a Forest Service road and scrambled down use trails and splashed through a creek. It was fun enough to momentarily forget how achy I was.

We tried adding one more hike late in the day. After Boulder Creek we drove out to the trailhead for Falls Creek Falls (yes, that's really its repetitive name) and considered hiking it. The trail is only about 1/2 mile roundtrip and involves little ascent... but by that we were really tired, and the sky was turning gloomy with bits of drizzle.

We drove back through town and got dinner before returning to the hotel. Back at the hotel this evening we have been so tired. Last night we enjoyed winding down with a dip in the hot tub.... Tonight I just wanted to shower to clean up and relax. I'm wiped. I'll be in bed before 10.

Fire on the Mountain

North Cascades Travelog #7
North Cascades National Park - Sun, 3 Sep 2023, 11am.

Today I'm reminded of the lyrics of the first stanza and refrain from my favorite Marshall Tucker Band song, Fire on the Mountain:

Took my family away from our Carolina home
Heard dreams about the west and wanted to roam
Six long months on a dust covered trail
They say heaven's at the end but so far it's been hell

[refrain]
And there's
Fire on the mountain
Lightning in the air
Gold in them hills
And it's waiting for me there

We only came from California, not Carolina, and it was only a few hours by aircraft plus several by 2023 Toyota Camry rather than 6 months in a wagon, and we weren't looking for gold in the hills, just a places to hike. But the rest of it matches. There's fire in the mountains!



As I've noted in recent blogs there are wildfires burning, or at least parts of them, in North Cascades National Park in Washington. News has been that crews are getting them under control, so we headed up into the pass this morning to see if anything's open yet. Nope. The trails we wanted to hike are all still closed, even the scenic viewpoint at the top of the pass is closed (the photos here are from the side of the road just below it), and the road at the top is one-way with crews signaling traffic.

We turned around when we saw the one-way traffic controls and headed back down the mountain, dejected. This was supposed to be our revenge trip. Instead Mother Nature is having the last laugh.



BTW when we got out of the car to make these pics at roadside pullouts we could smell the smoke thick in the air.

Back from Spokane. Uber v. Airport Parking, Round 2.

North Cascades Travelog #18
Back home - Tue, 5 Sep 2023, 9pm.

It's 9pm on Tuesday and we're back home from our trip to Spokane and the North Cascades. We walked through our front door just after 8; but now at 9 we've finished eaten a late supper and have mostly unpacked. It's time to wind down for the evening.

Yes, this blog is out of order. Like a few others on this trip I'm pulling it forward to try to keep up with at least the broad strokes of the trip in real time. There are 6-7 entries in the backlog. Update: it turned into 10 blogs once I split a few that got long.

Traveling home today was uneventful. We got up early from our hotel in Winthrop, WA and hit the road toward Spokane. We made a planned stop at the Grand Coulee Dam for a tour. That's one of the entries in the backlog. [Update: our visit to the dam spread to 2 entries.] We got to the airport, returned the car, cleared security, and walked to our gate by 3:10pm... two hours before our flight home. Being early like that wasn't exactly the plan... but at the same time it was. I don't like fooling around with trying to cut it too close on the day of our departure home.

The flight home was boring. Usually I remark that boring is good. This time it was... extra boring, in a bad way. The aircraft's wifi was busted so that meant far fewer things to do. I did touch up a few pictures to include in a blog I'll finish tomorrow morning.

Once on the ground at Oakland airport I set off on foot to get our car. That's the other main thing I wanted to write about in this blog. We drove to the airport instead of taking Uber/Lyft/etc. We drove and paid to park.

Driving and Parking FTW. Again!

Parking at the airport cost $82. Money down the drain! you might object. But like I figured out when I parked in hourly parking for a same-day business trip last week, the math works out favorably.

Hailing a ride with Uber this evening would have cost $58 plus tip. I opened the app to get a quote so I could make this comparison. Call it about $65 all-in. I didn't check prices Friday evening but I'll assume it would have been at least as much because of rush hour traffic. So that's at least $130 roundtrip. Driving and parking is a clear win in term of hard cost.

One nice thing about OAK airport is that long term parking is walkable to/from the terminal. I timed it at 10 minutes each way. Yeah, I was walking fast. Yeah, that's not ideal in all circumstances... though on the plus side it helps me get some exercise in and isn't too bad when I'm not hauling more than a light bag. (Hawk waited with our other roll-aboard bag in baggage claim for our checked bag to arrive.)

Driving and parking means we're in our own car. For some people that's a "dont' care" but it's important for Hawk who's sensitive to seat position and shape. She knows she'll be comfortable in our car. Most hailed cars are uncomfortable for her.

Finally, while the cost of parking was already cheaper than an Uber/Lyft roundtrip we could have lowered it even further if I'd remembered to make an advanced reservation. You know how I keep joking that every trip there's one thing I forget? This time it was to make a parking reservation. I tried doing it on the road Friday night, but reservations require 2 hour advanced booking.